Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 225,700 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.4% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $129,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $578.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $552.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $511.04. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $296.86 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total value of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at $18,612,808.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at $6,456,828. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,612,808.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 250,817 shares of company stock worth $132,547,715 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target for the company. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $621.63.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.